Northmount

Gold foil/leaf doesn't fade. Sometimes may oxidize or tarnish, making it darker and less brilliant. Where it is getting faint is due to some abrasion or wear as it is rubbing off. There is a possibility that there was not good adhesion in this area during the original work. But more likely, a spot where someone always placed their elbows or whatever. Tom

Welcome to the forum. When you dampen tooled leather to manipulate it for molding, or anything else, you will lose tooling definition. Depending on what you are making, you may be able to mold it first, then tool with a block of wood, or part of your mold to support the tooling surface. Did you know you can search the forums to find previous threads with lots of discussion and experience? The search bar is at the top right of the page. Try searching for tooling and molding, or molded, etc. If you don't like the search engine here, the use google search and append "site:leatherworker.net" after your search string. It's faster and you will likely get more hits. It limits your search to this site. Tom

I would suppose the surface was sealed, else you would likely see a lot of stains from anything that may have been damp in any way had been set on it, or drips that had fallen on it. I wouldn't sell a table without it having a well sealed surface. I wouldn't want to have to provide a guarantee for a raw surface. The gold is likely gold foil/leaf. Scrubbing it will wear it off. Don't try to remove the sealer. The gold foil/leaf will come off with it. After a gentle cleaning, I would make sure it has fully dried, then wax it with a wax formulation made for leather, like neutral shoe polish. The wax will help protect the surface against spills and light abrasion and can be buffed to a very nice shine. That's really a nice looking table. Treat if gently. Tom

Also search "mop 'n glo", one of the product names used ... Acrylic floor wax. Tom

You can do google searches limited to this site by appending site:leatherworker.net to your search string. Google has the big servers with many many many sites fully indexed. So for anyone that isn't finding the built in search function adequate, try Google. The syntax used above works on any site. Be aware though, that areas that are not public will not be indexed. For example, you can't view pictures without being logged in, so if your know the pictures name, you won't find it in the Google search. Tom

Look for "grommets". There are long post in some diameters. Tandy has a 5/16' that has a 1/4" post. That's a fair amount larger than the 3/16" you are looking for though. If you have a Tandy or other supplier nearby, you can look at the post length to see if they are likely to fit for you. Tom

I remember seeing two or three threads here on making your own maul, along with pictures. Try a search and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. Tom

Power in watts = voltage x current (amperes) x power factor. This is true for all single phase AC services. Power factor for an induction motor is typically in the range of 0.65 to 0.8. For three phase circuits multiply the above result by 1.732 (the square root of 3). Tom

It would appear that the UV rays of the sun do the tanning (same as for human skin). There is a leather binder sitting inside a glass window where the exposed leather has bleached to almost white. Glass for the most part blocks UV. Infrared passes through, so it would appear that the IR bleaches while UV tans. So it may be possible to reduce the rate at which tanning occurs by using a finish that blocks UV. Anyone got any permanent sunscreen/sunblock? Can't leave a wet sticky residue! Someone could do a little research so see what finishes are UV resistant. 2 parts to this, 1. UV won't cause the finish to breakdown, 2. blocks UV from penetrating. Tom

400 watts. 746 W / HP so this is 400 / 746 = 0.54 HP Tom

Love your story. When my youngest son was about 2, he came upstairs to the kitchen and handed his mom a number of screws. Where did you get these screws from. He took her to the basement stairway and showed her he had taken most of the screws out of the stair handrail. Anytime I went out to the garage, he would say where's dad going and be trying to get his shoes on to follow me. When I was about 2 to 3 years old, we lived in a house with no electricity. The wringer washer was powered by a little gasoline engine. One day I handed my mom a couple bolts I had taken out from under the washing machine. Kids that are hands on mechanically inclined will find ways to take things apart with or without the right tools. I have 8 grandkids now. Some of them are following this tradition. Tom

I've seen comments about using deglazer, or toluene or other solvent to remove the surface oil before gluing, so suspect that it would help with application of an acrylic finish. Looks like time for some test swatches to see what works and how it stands up to lots of flexing, etc. before you try the real project. Tom

Using a string gives you the wrong length. Belt length should be measured at the top of the pulley where the belt rides, not in the bottom of the groove. Bottom of the groove will be too short. You could draw out the mounting positions and size of each pulley on a piece of poster board. Then measure with a cloth tape. Or if you remember any of your geometry from school, you can calculate the length of the belts. Half the circumference of each of the 2 pulleys the belt will go around, plus 2 times the distance from centre to centre of each pulley will give the belt length. You have to know where you are placing each pulley for either of these methods to work. Tom

Oils are used to condition and moisturize leather. They do not seal. Acrylics and lacquers seal the surface. After you have sealed the surface, oils won't do much since the surface has been sealed. You can do a search here for sealing leather, or conditioning, or acrylic, or lacquers, or resolene, or neat lac, or saddle lac, etc. You will find lots of comments on the various types. If you are close to a Tandy store, you can go look at some of the products they have and ask about them. Depending upon the sales person you speak to, you may get some good information. Tom

See your other thread you started with photos for answers Tom

Oxalic acid crystals will help to clean and bleach the surface. You may not get all the way to the nice example you show. Do a search here for oxalic. You will find lots of discussion and ideas. Tom

Lots of options and information here. Do a search for "clicker" or "shop press" or "hydraulic jack". Even some plans and photos for adapting a shop press. Tom

Contact the attorney general for his last known location. If the phone or Internet was used for the transactions, it is a case of wire fraud and a more serious crime. Press charges. Tom

Outside is the show side as Electrathon said. Whether laced or stitched. Tom

Several grades of Loctite are available. And they do hold in an oil environment if the oil was cleaned off the surfaces prior to adding the Loctite. May years ago I had to do a temporary fix on a mechanical accounting machine. Didn't have the correct size nut for an eccentric adjustment. Applied some Loctite, let it set up. Came back a week later, all was still in the correct position. Replaced the nut with the correct size. I tend to use the less permanent type that allows you to unscrew the screw/bolt/nut later if necessary. In a pinch, have also used Loctite "bearing retainer" for screw threads. Works fine. And wrt bottoming taps. A bottoming tap should work in this case since you are not trying to jamb the screw tight against the shaft. Tom

No excuse necessary. Always happy to hear from new members and long timers too. And I should have said, Welcome to the forum! Tom

Do a search here for sheath and head or round knife. There are several threads with lots of photos to give you some really good ideas. Always use a welt. Only half the sheath needs to be open, so you twist the knife out of the pocket. So only one closure strap needed. Tom

PM Johanna. See top bar for PMs. She will be able to do that for you. You can also set your preferences to no notifications, so there would be no emails in the meantime. Tom

I really admire Bob's work and his willingness to help others and share his knowledge along the way. Great achievement Bob. Congratulations. Tom

The memory used in today's cell phones, tablets and PCs is not sensitive to magnets. Hard-disk drives may be sensitive to extremely strong magnetic fields, but you are nowhere close to that. Consider that the TSA X-rays your laptop and does no damage. The one thing to note about cell phones and tablets is that the some manufacturers use magnetic switches to turn the screen off when the device is holstered or cover is closed. You need to know where these switches are so you can avoid them with the closure, and use them to turn off the screen as needed. If the device can be inserted front to back or back to front, then the screen switch magnets need to be on both the front and rear of the pouch/case. If you do a search here, you will find much more discussion. Just be aware that many people believe old wives tales that are not applicable to today's memory and devices. Even floppy disks are not as sensitive as people claimed them to be. Tom